Where possible the Copes have chosen New Zealand-made building materials and equipment, to reduce transport energy and support New Zealand business.

They include Halcyon light fittings, Athena shower units, Breeze Furniture for wardrobes and bathroom vanities and tough Linear weatherboard cladding from James Hardie to match the existing weatherboards.

They regret they were unable to find New Zealand-manufactured whiteware that met their exacting standards of energy efficiency, and hope that one day F&P will take this lead.

On the roof, the Copes have solar photovoltaic (PV) modules that generate electricity from the sun’s energy.

So far, they have 2 kilowatts and are planning to add another 2 kilowatts in 2009 to power the office as it expands with more employees. They were going to also install an additional 640 watt array connected to a small battery pack to act as uninterruptible power supply for the office and essential systems when the grid fails... Thankfully new technology from the inverter manufacturer SMA has been invented to solve this common challenge the Cope's also experienced in NZ; 99% of the time the power grid is fine. When we do get a power failure/blackout the main PV modules cannot be used... what a waste and very frustrating when the smalled 640 watt array doesn't generate enough energy to continbue on as normal...

The direct current (DC) from the modules is fed to the $3000 Sunny Boy inverter in the laundry and converted to alternating current (AC) before it enters the electricity grid.

Acting as a mini power station, PV and inverter feed the electricity into the grid.

Although Simon is an electronics whiz, he hasn't gone overboard with high-tech digital controls. Subscribing to the "Keep it Simple Stupid" principle, he has no voice-activated switches or digital keypads.

The temperature controller for each of the radiators is a simple knob.

The most "smart"-looking part of the whole system is the Sunny Boy inverter, which has a digital readout showing how much electricity is being generated. It is capable of handling multiple circuits, a facility Simon's planning to use when he adds the next batch of solar PV modules.

Everything else is hidden - quietly keeping the house snug and warm in winter and cool in summer.